Lesson 23
Turn the question round

Bill: What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses?
Merry: I possess strong communication skills…*["Great! I've already expected this question, and I've already practised it, I even practised it in front of the mirror, just to make sure that I say it at the right tone and the right feeling"]. …and it really needs strong communication skills to actually convince people to donate money
to the LSE or cancer charity. *["Oh dear! I think I've been talking too much; he looks a bit bored"].

Bill: And weaknesses?
Merry: Actually, I'm very, very bad with names. I cannot really remember peoples' names, but now I'm getting better because I'm just trying to put down the contact number or the name so I can remember better next time.

Bill: Most people answer with their strengths first, and try to forget about weaknesses, hope that the interviewer will forget about them, too… I think it would be better next time to answer the question the other way round. Tell me about your weakness. If you'd done that and then moved on to your strengths, then you would've left the answer on a high note, instead of on a low note. So, I think, there's good advice for most candidates, to turn the question round.